Ruengoethe

The Salt Wars

The Salt Wars were a series of wars between the duchies of Ackenzal over religious and trade issues that is often seen as a precursor to The Feral Risings. Though no single conflict within the broad scope of the Salt Wars was particularly bloody, the constant unrest and destabilization of trade routes devastated Ackenzal. The original conflict in the war was between Trailfar and Usterine—already famously opposed for the abolitionist nature of Trailfar and the strong pro-slavery position of Usterine— over the rights to a salt mine along the border of the two duchies. Both duchies mined the same salt-rich mountain, but Usterine contended that Trailfar miners were extracting salt from the Usterine side of the mountain. To compound the problem, there were heavy taxes in Trailfar on non-domestic salt, inflating the price of Usterine salt and promoting the sale of salt controlled by the Duke of Trailfar.